


Jamil Deserved Better

by Charlie572



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Arab Character, Gen, Muslim Character, Religious Discussion, This fic is probably blasphemous in at least three different religions including mine, chapter one is a dedication page, discussion of irl bigotry, mention of PTSD, please let me know if i fucked up and i will do my best to fix it, there will be cursing in tags and in fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-02 10:00:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16303043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charlie572/pseuds/Charlie572
Summary: Jamil Hamed appeared in Supernatural for like 15 seconds. The minute I saw an Arab Muslim on screen I knew some racist shit was about to go down.It was so much worse than I was prepared for.This fic is an attempt to fix that by shamelessly retconning Jamil's backstory until he's an actual person instead of a racist caricature of Muslim immigrants.This is Jamil's story. But it's also not Jamil's story. It's a lot of stories tied together and Jamil is involved in all of them.Supernatural, season 14, take two.





	1. Dedication Page

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! My tumblr is @dinosaurrainbowstarfish. I am a white christian writing an Arab Muslim character. Please tell me if I fuck this up. Jamil was handled in a very racist way in canon and I don't want to make that worse. Also, if you know of any Arab and/or Muslim people who have written similar fics, please let me know! I'd love to signal boost on tumblr, because let's face it, no one is probably going to read this and I'm screaming into the void. 
> 
> One other note--I know that atheism is not a religion, but please understand that any time this fic talks about all religions respecting each other, I am including the idea that religion should respect atheism and vice versa.

This fic is dedicated to a youtube commenter I ran across in 2009 or so. I don't remember his name, but I think it was Omar. I was scrolling through comments on a Christian music video, Chris Tomlin's "How Great Is Our God", but not the World version, and it wasn't an official video, it was like the lyrics on top of some scenery or something. Anyway, Omar wrote that he wanted to live in a world where people of all religions could worship together in peace. He figured the best way to create this world was to start with the Abrahamic religions, because we worship the same god, right?

 

The Christian commenters did not agree. At all. They didn't want to worship in peace with Omar, they wanted Omar to worship the same way they did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When a man asks for peace, he should be offered peace. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm ashamed that I didn't know how to respond then. I agreed with the rude commenters too much to defend Omar, and I disagreed with them enough to not add to the roaring tide of "no one comes to the father except through" and other really, really pushy and aggressive Bible quotes.

I've changed a lot since then. I've learned a lot of things about racism and privilege and religion.

In some ways, this fic is almost a decade in the making. 

 

But then, I guess that's true of all writing, isn't it?

 

Omar, I have no way of realistically contacting you. So I hope, wherever you are, that the Universe or God or something will convey to you this message:

 

I believe in peace.

I believe in love.

 

I believe in your better world.

 

 


	2. Jamil and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is shorter than I wanted it to be, but it's words.  
> Let me know if I fucked up!

A rather insistent knocking sound roused Jamil from his thoughts. His morning had not gone well, but he supposed it could have gone worse. He was alive, and had learned to count that as a blessing. (Maybe he counted it just a little more after his less-than-ideal encounter with Michael).

 

“Coming!” He briefly wondered if he would actually be able to get up to answer the door. He slowly rose to his knees, then his feet, finding that he was bruised but not too badly. If he hurried, he’d probably be only a little late for work. 

 

He opened the door to find an older woman, maybe in her sixties, greying dreadlocks pouring over her shoulders, and looking very concerned.

 

“Can I help you?” Jamil asked.

 

“Good morning, I was just wondering if everything was okay up here. I live downstairs in 213 and it sounded pretty bad?”

 

“Ah, yes, uh,” Jamil cleared his throat, “My bookshelf collapsed a little, but I’m alright. Sorry to have troubled you?” She reached out to touch Jamil’s arm, gently.

 

“It’s no trouble at all, I just wanted to check on my neighbor. I’m Josie.”

 

“Jamil.” He took her offered hand.

 

“Do you need help with the bookshelf? My son is good with tools, I can send him by some time this week, if you’d like.”

 

Jamil had honestly not thought that far ahead. He found himself nodding along. 

 

They exchanged contacts, a few more pleasantries, and Josie went back to her apartment. 

 

Jamil locked his door, moved his worn-out chair to the other side of the room, and restarted the Fajr.


	3. this is also not a real chapter you're welcome everyone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> notes on the rest of the fic

Hey so the next actual chapter may be delayed a bit bc i realized I need to completely change what I was planning on doing with this fic in order to not be super super offensive to practicing Muslims.

This fic will NOT include depictions of God or Angels, except for the reference to the events of 14x02. And also u kno we're not gonna make Michael be the real Michael bc he's shitty so he's just gonna be a demon or something like that. Maybe I'll make an original monster??

I'd love to hear your thoughts about these writing decisions! If there's anything else I messed up let me know!


End file.
